Genetic Engineering is a technology covering different areas such as our food supply, medical research of diseases for cures and preventions, or cloning of animals for various reasons. Different organisations and individuals take different stances on the various areas and therefore cannot be simply stated as those for or against GE. An organisation may state that it is not against the idea of GE of our food supply, but may be against the lack of real science being conducted to ensure the human and/or environmental safety because of market forces. This section focuses on our food supply only and not areas such as medicine.
The categories below must therefore be taken in a context of those for or against the current situation with GE of our food supply. Those against it would either like to ban GE food completely or have major reservations about some aspect of its current method of introduction.
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Australian Consumers' Association
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Centre for Law & Genetics The Centre is based at the Schools of Law at the Universities of Tasmania and Melbourne.
The mission of the Centre is to provide excellence in research for the benefit of the Australian and International communities into the legal and ethical issues arising from the developments in genetic technology and to propose effective and equitable means for developing, applying and benefit-sharing of this technology." |
| Friends of the Earth, Australia National Campaign on "Sustainable Food and Agriculture Project |
| Friends of the Earth, Brisbane Genetic Engineering Campaign |
| GE Free Australia based in Newton South Australia |
| GE-Free Tasmania is committed to raising public awareness about GE foods. |
| Greenpeace Australia Pacific truefood network. Excellent site for shoppers and their "True Food Guide" to find out who is GE free or not. |
| GeneEthics Network Promotes critical community discussion and debate on the economic, market, environmental, social and ethical impacts of genetic engineering (GE) technologies. Campaigns for the precautionary principle to be rigorously applied to all uses of GE. Promotes community participation in policy-making processes on: GE regulation, proposed releases of GE organisms and their products, food labelling, feral animal and weed control. |
| Institute of Health and Environmental Research Inc is a not-for-profit research institute with a scientific interest in the safety of genetically engineered (GE) organisms, particularly those destined for food. Its directors are Dr Judy Carman, Dr Kate Clinch-Jones and Dr Phil Davies. |
| Network of Concerned Farmers is an Australia wide network of conventional and organic farmers who are concerned about the economic, environmental and social impacts of genetically modified crops. |
| Public Health Association of Australia food legislation and regulation advisory group. They primarily aim to encourage research and promote knowledge of public health. Their chief concern is labelling of GE food. |
| South Australia's Genetic Food Information Network Collect and distributes information on all aspects of gene technology, with a particular focus on genetically engineered foods and crops. It also acts as an advocate for community concerns and food and environmental safety. |
| The Wilderness Society Help keep Western Australia GM-Free |
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| Ag Biotech Infonet has links to many reports. See their Highlights page which contains links such as:
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| Alliance for Bio-Integrity Preseving the Safety of Our Food, the Health of Our Environment, and the Harmony of Our Relationship with Nature. USA based |
| American Corn Growers Association questions and answers regarding genetically modified crops. |
| Arpad Pusztai's Homepage is a scientist that brought attention to the public of the problems with GM potatoes. |
| Californians for GE-Free Agriculture |
| Citizen's GMO Challenge to WTO Campaign by the Research Foundation For Science, Technology and Ecology, founded in India by Dr. Vandana Shiva |
| Canadian Wheat Board Biotechnology position statement |
| Consumers International Biotechnology and Food coordinate the activities and input of consumer organisations into various processes that will affect the way biotechnology is developed and promoted and to follow the discussions to a logical conclusion because of its experience in similar work and structure. This organisation does not explicitly advocate a ban on GE foods, it does highlight the issues raised by those organisations/people that do. |
| Council for Responsible Genetics The Council for Responsible Genetics fosters public debate about the social, ethical and environmental implications of genetic technologies. USA based. |
| Council of Canadians Biotech Campaign |
| CropChoice is an alternative news and information source for American farmers and consumers about genetically modified crops, corporate agribusiness concentration, farm and trade policy, sustainable agriculture, wind farming and alternative energy, and rural economic and social issues. CropChoice has news that big companies may not want farmers to hear. The CropChoice news service provides balance. It complements other news sources and helps American producers make the best planting and management decisions. Consumers are better infomed about the food they're buying, how it was produced and processed, and its source. |
| ETC group's strength is in the research and analysis of technological information (particularly but not exclusively plant genetic resources, biotechnologies, and [in general] biological diversity), and in the development of strategic options related to the socioeconomic ramifications of new technologies. |
| Friends of the Earth Europe Bite Back campaign |
| Friends of the Earth, International GMO campaign |
| GE-Free New Zealand in food and environment |
| Genetic Engineering Action Network (GEAN) is a diverse network of grassroots activists, national and community non-governmental organisations (NGOs), farmer and farm advocacy groups, academics and scientists who have come together to work on the myriad of issues surrounding biotechnology. USA based organisation. |
| Genetic Food Alert UK based, researching and publishing papers, and publishing alerts. |
| GeneWatch UK aims are to ensure that genetic technologies are developed and used in the public interest and in a way which promotes human health, protects the environment and respects human rights and the interests of animals. |
| GMO Free Hawaii Dedicated to protecting Hawaii from genetically engineered organisms through education and action. |
| GM Watch developed out of the Norfolk Genetic Information Network - a news and research service founded in Norfolk, UK in the spring of 1998. NGIN's mission was to report on the growing concerns about genetic engineering, also known as genetic modification, and about the rapid release of genetically modified (GM) foods and crops into the environment and into our food chain in the absence of either a social or scientific consensus on their safety. |
| GRAIN is an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) which promotes the sustainable management and use of agricultural biodiversity based on people's control over genetic resources and local knowledge. Based in Spain. |
| Greenpeace International Genetic Engineering |
| Ground Up an information site focusing on Europe |
| Grow GMO Free The Humboldt Green Genes is a collaborative team of local activists, community members and farmers. Working groups are now forming to work on community outreach and education, fundraising, website development and our ultimate goal of collecting 7000 signatures from Humboldt County residents. |
| Indymedia Biotech |
| InfoXgen.com the Internet market place for the food production without genetic engineering. Based in Europe. |
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Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy promotes resilient family farms, rural communitities and ecosystems around the world through research and education, science and technology, and advocacy. Based in USA
From their News Bulletins you can select items such as:
- Agriculture and Biodiversity News
- Intellectual Property and Biodiversity News
- GE Food Alert Update
- Monsanto Monitor (only appears to be one edition)
From their List server archives you can select items such as:
- Antibiotics and the food system
- Biotech Activists
- Food Standards
- US Farm Crisis
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| Institute for Food and Development Policy Food First: Genetic Engineering |
| Institute of Science in Society is a not-for-profit organization founded in 1999 by Mae-Wan Ho and Peter Saunders to work for social responsibility and sustainable approaches in science. A major part of our work is to promote critical public understanding of science and to engage both scientists and the public in open debate and discussion. ISIS has been providing inputs into the GM debate that would have been conspicuously lacking otherwise. |
| Mindfully.org is to provide useful information to people who would not obtain this information otherwise. Mindfully.org is to be used as a nonprofit research tool. We are located in the San Francisco Bay Area, but attempt to maintain a broad focus on the world. |
| National Farmers Union (Canada) is farm families sharing common goals. They promote the family farm as the most appropriate and efficient means of agricultural production. Our goal is to work together to achieve agricultural policies which will ensure dignity and security of income for farm families while enhancing the land for future generations.
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| Northern Plains Resource Council (USA) is committed to protecting Montana's valuable wheat from genetic contamination and to maintaining farmer independence. |
| Natural Food Commission is organised by the Natural Law Party in New Zealand. Have written a handbook on What Everyone Needs to Know |
| People's Food Sovereignty is a loose global coalition of peasant-farmer organisations and NGO's working on food & agriculture issues. It grew out of the Our World Is Not For Sale Coalition in order to provide specific attention to globalization of food & agriculture issues in the WTO. They have some reports/papers related to genetic engineering in their Documents section |
| Physicians and Scientists for Responsible Application of Science and Technology |
| Physicians and Scientists for Responsible Application of Science and Technology New Zealand based and affiliated to the international organisation PSRAST shown above. |
| pro-Natural Food Scotland |
| PureFoodNZ |
| Say No To GMOs! volunteers are Texans who are concerned about the proliferation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and their potential human health and environmental risks. Our goal is to educate and involve as many Texans as possible so they can make informed decisions, take necessary steps to protect themselves and their families and learn to work effectively within their communities on a local grassroots level. |
| Scientists for Global Responsibility promoting ethical science and technology. |
| Sustainability Council of New Zealand objectives include: Protect and enhance New Zealand's ecosystems, the health of New Zealanders, and the nation's ability to derive income from established land uses. Also to undertake research into issues related to the sustainable development of New Zealand for example, genetic modification. |
| The Agribusiness Accountability Initiative promotes collaborative responses to corporate power in the global food system. |
| The Campaign to Label Genetically Engineered Foods. Based in the USA. |
| The Center for Food Safety is a non-profit public interest and environmental advocacy membership organisation established in 1997 by its sister organisation, International Center for Technology Assessment, for the purpose of challenging harmful food production technologies and promoting sustainable alternatives. CFS combines multiple tools and strategies in pursuing its goals, including litigation and legal petitions for rulemaking, legal support for various sustainable agriculture and food safety constituencies, as well as public education, grassroots organizing and media outreach. |
| The GE Food Alert Campaign Center is a coalition of seven organisations united in their commitment to testing and labelling genetically engineered food. Based in the USA. |
| The Independent Science Panel The Genetic Modification Group of the ISP consists of scientists working in genetics, biosciences, toxicology and medicine, and other representatives of civil society who are concerned about the harmful consequences of genetic modifications of plants and animals. See their report The Case For A GM-Free Sustainable World 15 June 2003 |
| The Non GMO Source Information and resources to help you capitilize on the market opportunities for non-genetically modified products. Based in the USA |
| Third World Network Genetic Engineering and Health |
| UK Food Group is the leading UK network for non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working on global food and agriculture issues. Our vision is a world in which hunger has been banished by food security. One of their activities includes UK Agricultural Biodiversity Coalition which contains a link to Genetic Engineering |
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The UK government announced that there should be a national dialogue on genetic modification issues in May 2002. The national dialogue had three main strands:
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| Union of Concerned Scientists Citizens and Scientists for Environmental Solutions. UCS is an independent nonprofit alliance of more than 100,000 concerned citizens and scientists. We augment rigorous scientific analysis with innovative thinking and committed citizen advocacy to build a cleaner, healthier environment and a safer world. |
| Western Organization of Resource Councils (USA) is a regional network of seven grassroots community organizations that include 8,750 members and 50 local chapters. WORC helps its member groups succeed by providing training and coordinating issue work. WORC's mission is to advance the vision of a democratic, sustainable, and just society through community action. |
| 90 Degrees is a network of people committed to providing clear and accurate information to the GE debate. They send out personalised fortnightly updates with the latest GE news and ways for you to speak out and be heard. |
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These organisations either state they are neutral and only interested in reliable information or determine how to determine the safety of GE. Therefore it is a grey area how you would categorise these organisations and could be argued they are actually for GE.